New Mild and Modest
by Nate-kun
Summary: In which Calem is feeling like a little bitch and needs some meta pep talk in order to convince him that, yes, zeroes can be heroes, and that being above-average can be fun in small doses. Calem/Serena if your hobbies include squinting, over-analyzing, and general scrutinization.


**Recently I've been entranced by the glorious wonders and amazements of Pokemon X/Y, Y version specifically. And I suppose you could say-if you know of my whereabouts in websites other than this one- that due to my obligation to tons of people I don't know over the internet, that it was obivous I'd draft a tale overlooking the harrowing adventure, but in my own point of view, complete with obscurities and according to one reader: "euphoric obnoxiousness", take that with a grain of salt.**

**If you're confused, unaware of my other works, and simply clicked on this story because you were gracious enough to give it a chance, then I commend you for your kindness. As part of this obligation I have as a man that delivers, here's a story, a continuation you might say of another work, featuring the power duo protagonists of our newest iteration of Pokemon overgoing another meta conversation. My headcanon perception on them, you may ask? Well, given dialogue spoken by Serena in rival status in-game, I can't help but see her as an orderly, elegant ojou who tries not to stray too far from what's right. Calem on the other hand, is more or less a spineless drone who follows the orders of his lady companion.**

**I find it sort of intoxicating. That said, please review if you can, and I certainly hope you do, after all, it motivates me to continue writing, thanks in advance for your potential courtesy. **

**But in all essence yeah, I haven't a clue what I'm doing here, it came up all on a whim, like a majority of my work.**

**Word Count: 1089 words.**

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New Mild and Modest

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It happens too fast, too quick to for him to register at first. It was almost as if it they didn't care about his well-being nor what he himself thought of the matter, one day he was moving into a new house, a lovely one at that, with his implied single mother and their accompanying pets.

The next, he finds himself suddenly thrust into a world beyond belief, filled with creatures based on animals, objects, myths, legends, and whatever other stupid thing the bottom of the barrel can produce. Said creatures were in possession abilities so powerful, it was like a dream come true.

A dream, which to him, seems more like a nightmare in hindsight.

He stands out on the balcony of their room at the Pokemon Center, staring up at the Santalune moon with nothing but typical teenage angst on his mind. It's not that he didn't completely detest the idea of adventuring out into a world of the unknown, it was that he wasn't sure whether or not he was prepared for it.

Thus, he stands there, wonders, pondering if the passing of the torch is even meant for a person like him. His fluctuating thoughts begin to lean more towards denial, and that his chosen title was simply based on a randomized sort of luck, decided by a roll of a die, a game of cards, things of that nature.

"What the hell are you doing?" asks a voice, one softer than his. It belongs to a girl around his age, wearing pink pajamas and head draped in entangled honey brown hair. Nothing more needs to be said in order to deduct her identity.

Calem continues to stare at the moon with the kind of melancholy that could be perceived as a form of blatant bigotry by some ignorant people, and try-hard sympathy bait by others, "Staring at the moon, and uh...thinking about stuff! Yeah, that."

She cocks her head as well as an eyebrow, "It's three AM, you know. You should get some rest. Don't you have a date with a Surskit tomorrow?"

"So should you, and uh besides, I'm not too worried about that right now."

Serena frowns, normally he'd pay attention to whatever light scolding she has to dish out. So, in an effort to get him to speak his mind, she walks closer and joins him by the railing, "Any particular reason why you're out here?"

"I don't know, I'm just feeling kind of mellow."

"What? You came out to look at the moon because you were feeling 'mellow'?"

"What the _heck_ do you want me to say, then?!" Calem retorts in a rather quirky, defensive tone.

A few figurative gears within the maiden's mind begin turning at once, "Ahh, I get it. I see what this is about now, you're still bummed out because you're doubting whether you're good enough for this whole trainer thing."

Calem clicks his tongue and looks away, it's something he's not fond of admitting, "Right, I _guess _you could put it that way. See, the one and only time that guy talked to me- _the one with the pineapple head- _he just told me that he doesn't have any high hopes, and '_expects bare minimum at best_'. Wait, no, he also mentioned that he hoped I would get laid on the way to the league, but I'm not sure if that really meant anything or not. I kind of figured he was just joking around about that part."

At that moment, Serena crosses her legs.

"I'm just going to pretend I didn't hear that last part."

It takes a moment for Calem to make the connection, but when he does, he immediately reverts back to his defensive demeanor. With a bit more franticness added to the flair, "W-Wait, th-that's not what I m-meant, I would never-!"

"You're too young to speak inappropriately." she declares, "Try again when you have a more respectable and tame concupiscence."

He blinks and turns to her, "A _what _now?"

"Libido."

"Oh."

Silence follows, but it doesn't last for long before it's drowned out by the boy speaking yet again, "Let me guess, you don't think I'm ready for this either, do you?"

Serena closes her eyes and wags her index finger, he finds it rather cute, "Let's be honest, you made it this far, haven't you? It'd just be really stupid and over the top if you went home now. Why not stick it out?"

"Well for one, that guy didn't seem particularly happy about giving the torch to me and-"

She intercepts him, "Who cares about what he thinks?"

"Would you like it if someone you didn't even know from some region you've never even heard of went ahead and took all your notability?"

Serena contemplates the question, but shrugs, "I can't say for sure, I'm not _that _guy. But listen, it's three AM and this is hardly appropriate, so I'm going to give you some advice."

Calem gives her a completely fabricated smile while folding his hands together, "Oh joy! Advice from you, I can't wait to hear it!"

She pinches his nose.

"Ow!"

"You said that guy told you he expects the bare minimum, right? Well, you're already close to getting your first badge, why not go ahead and get to that minimum? Then maybe, if you have the will, go _past _that, go past his expectations, prove him wrong!"

Calem gives it some thought, after all, they're certainly some encouraging words. Thinking it over, he places his hands on his hips and turns to her, "Are you saying this just to get me to go back in?"

"It's a little bit of both, to be honest. I have a feeling I'm going to get tired of your complaints and frankly you look kind of weird standing out here," she pauses in order to retrieve a brush from her pockets, "I also need someone to brush my hair. I don't like it when it's like this."

Calem finds himself faced with a predicament, a decision between woe and attempted heroism. He looks on one side, and sees a trainer who gives up because he's been told there's nothing to expect from a newbie like him.

He looks on the other, and sees a whipped plebeian who at least gives it a go and has some essence of fun in the process.

"Ugh, fine." he succumbs quite easily to a choice.

He takes her hairbrush from her and quickly walks back inside.

She follows, triumphantly at that.


End file.
